8 figures decide the club boards, and every one is a single number the manufacturer publishes — nothing here is estimated, averaged, or scored by hand.
Each figure is ranked from both ends, so there are 16 boards: the same clubs, the same figure, read in both directions.
The figures
- Strongest-lofted 7-iron · Weakest-lofted 7-iron — irons
- The published loft of the 7-iron, the row every iron spec table centres on. Lower is stronger, and a stronger loft is a longer-carrying club of the same name — not a better one, and not a longer set: the 28° 7-iron and the 34° 7-iron are different numbered clubs sold under the same number. Models publishing no 7-iron row are left off.
- Most offset at the 7-iron · Least offset at the 7-iron — irons
- How far the 7-iron leading edge sits behind the hosel, in inches, as the manufacturer publishes it. Offset helps square the face and is a design choice about who the club is for — it measures intent, never quality. A combo set stating two different offsets publishes no single figure and is left off.
- Lowest published loft · Highest opening loft — drivers, fairway woods, hybrids
- The lowest loft the model is sold in. A driver line opening at 8° and one opening at 10.5° are aimed at different players; this is that difference, stated in the manufacturer’s own numbers. Irons are excluded — their lowest loft is whichever long iron the set happens to start at, which measures set composition rather than the club.
- Widest loft range · Narrowest loft range — drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges
- Degrees between the highest and lowest loft the model is published in — how far the line stretches to fit different players. Measured over the lofts on record for the model; a model we hold in a single loft has an unmeasured span and is left off rather than recorded as zero. Putters are excluded, being sold at one loft.
- Most bounce · Least bounce — wedges
- The highest published bounce angle across the model’s grinds, in degrees. Bounce is how the sole resists digging — a turf and sand fitting choice, matched to a player’s attack angle and their course’s conditions. More is not better; more is more.
- Most upright lie · Flattest lie — drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, putters, wedges
- The published lie angle, measured from the ground. Irons are read at the 7-iron; every other category at the most upright figure the model publishes. PING quotes putter lie from vertical rather than horizontal, so those figures are converted onto the common scale before comparison and the club’s own page still shows the number PING published.
- Longest · Shortest — drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, putters, wedges
- Published playing length in inches. Irons are read at the 7-iron, so a set starting at a 3-iron is not credited with length a set starting at a 5-iron never had; every other category is read at the longest club the model is published in.
- Heaviest head · Lightest head — putters
- Published head weight in grams. A putter’s head weight is the spec that most changes how the stroke feels, and it is the one putter figure enough makers publish to compare. Heavier is not better — it is a fit to a stroke and a green speed.
How a board is built
Each figure above heads two boards, one from each end of the field — the strongest-lofted and the weakest-lofted 7-iron are the same clubs and the same published lofts, ordered in opposite directions. Neither end is the good end: which one a golfer wants is a fitting question, and the figure is the same number either way.
A club is placed against clubs it is comparable to — its own type, its model year, its brand’s line, and the handicap band its published specs were built for. A field needs 12 clubs publishing a figure before anyone is placed on it, ties share an ordinal, and the field size is rendered with every placement.